Upholstered article



July 13, 1937. A. T. REYNOLDS UPHOLSTERED ARTICLE Filed Aug. 29, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 NVENTOR /T ATTORNEY July 13, 1937. A. T. REYNOLDS uPHoLsTERED ARTICLE Filed Aug. 29, 1934 2 Sheets-Shep?, 2

Patented July 13, 1937V PATENT OFFICE urnons'remm .m'rrcm .a1-thun'. Reynolds, nrneklyn, N. Y. Application auxust ze, 1934, semi No. 741,961

1 Claim. (o1. 15s-isz) This invention relates to an upholstered article having a removable cover. More particularly the invention relates to an upholstered article having a removable cover extended between two base portions of the article and secured in such position by fastening to a portion of the article at the opposite side. Y

It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved method of securing covers,

l such for example as are shown in theFisher Patents Nos. 1,908,233 and 1,933,372 vor other removable upholstery covers, so as to prevent loosening and wrinkling of the covers, and especially to provide a simple method of fastening which 15 will be so obvious. to the user of the cover as to prevent. all likelihood of misapplication.

Tailored upholstery covers, made for example as described in the above-mentioned Fisher patents, have during the last year or more since their introduction rapidly increased in favor,

especially for the upholstery of the more ex"v 'I'he advantages of this type pensive furniture. of upholstery are most appreciated and sought -after by the persons who are most particular about the appearance of their furnitm'e. Its popularity is dependent, therefore, not only upon its apparent advantages of providing for removal and cleaning, or changing of the upholstery covers but also upon the fit and perfectly smooth and tailored appearance which must be maintained at all times.

The slide fastener constitutes, as set forth in the Fisher patents, a means of attaining this smooth, perfectly tailored appearance, except at the internal corners, e. g., where the seat and the back, or the seat and the arms, or the arms and the back of a chair, or sofa, etc. meet one another. At these points some other expedient has to be`adopted. .The 'bolster Vor anchor, as specified in the Fisher patent and as commonly used in this type of upholstering prior to, my invention, is subject to the disadvantage that it requires careful placing and if inserted by one not familiar with upholstering, may not hold the cover smooth and tight over the article near the corners, and even when once properly placed is capable of being pulled out under certain conditions.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide a means of anchoring the cover at such corners so that anyone however unfamiliar with the upholstering and even a fairly careless per- -son may apply the cover and yet produce a Arother problem which has caused dissatls faction with furniture stuffed with new hair, down, etc., is the packing or shifting of the material during use. When new materialsare used for stufng they invariably pack together and adjust themselves somewhat to the shape of the body during the first few months of their use, and this results inra loosening of the cover kno matter how carefully it may have been applied.

This is true whether the cover be a removable one, e. g., using slide fasteners ora permanently secured cover.l Another object of my invention is to overcome this trouble by providing a ready means of adjusting the portions of the cover which are over the stuilng material which thus becomes'packed or shiftedn l' With these and other objects in view my invention contemplates the pushing of the corner of the cover through between the adjacent sections of the article from one side and securing the corner to the article on the other side. Thus,

' for example, the back and seat portions of Aa chair are ordinarily made separate with a small space between them. In the case of a stued a separate vstumng rail is made for the seat portion and another for the back portion. According to my invention the removable cover would be inserted between the seat and back portions and between the stuilng rails of each and then would be secured at the back of the chair pref- 3o erably to a separate tie bar held by the frame of Y the chair between the two stuffing rails.

The addition of these separate tie bars between the structure of the vstuffing rails enables the iinished upholstered piece to keep allvthe artistry fasteners having one of the separable sides se- 1 cured to the frame and the other to the corner of the cover, or snaps, hooks, laces, etc. I have found, however,.that the best fastening means for this purpose are tapes or ties. I prefer to use tiesfor this purpose because their use is obvious and simple, and anyone applying the cover to a chair or any other article for which it is intended will secure the cover properly without instruction and without any substantial danger of misapplication. With snaps, hooks, etc., there Ais always the danger that someone applying the cover may skip one of 2 Y v 2,ose,o4o

the fasteners in the series on one side so that the. cover will be applied more or less lopsided or with a substantial pucker in one place where the fastener has been skipped, or finding it dimv cult to stretch the material sufficiently to engage one of the fasteners the person applying the cover may leavel it unfastened. With snaps, moreover, there is always some danger that the fasteners will pull apart under stress encountered in use. Laces are tedious to applyand also are subject to the danger that the lacings may be improperly aligned so that the cover will be lopsided or puckered'. Experience has shown, on the other hand, that ties are so simple and obvious that there is no substantial danger of misapplication when they are used.

Contrary to what might have been expected, I have found that the removable covers may be so satisfactorily and completely held in other di-' between the points at which they are attached,

but I have found in general practice that this is not necessary, t

In the accompanying drawings. 'I have shown a preferred embodiment of my invention and certain modifications thereof which are shown for purposes of example only, and it-is to be understood that these are not intended as limiting the invention.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a chair embodying my invention with the cover partly removed and ,partly cut away to disclose the construction of the chair.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken` on line 2 2 of Figure 1'. Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on line 3--3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a bottom `plan view of the chair shown in Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical u section also taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary detail on an enlarged scale of the tie bar, stuffing rails and cover.

Figure 7 is a perspective similar to Figure 1 of a modified embodiment of my invention.

' Figures 8 and 9 are detail views similar to Figures 5 and 6 but showing a modification ofl Figure 7.

In Figure 1 of the drawings I have shown the frame I0 of a typical chair having added thereto a supplemental frame member II between the stuffing rails of the s eat and back portions I2 and I3 adapted to secure the ties I 4 for the removable cover I5. This chair is also intended for 85 upholstering with stuied arms I6 as well as stuied back and seat portions. Accordingly, similar supplemental frame members I1 and I8 are inserted between the stuing rails of the back and arm portions and between the arm and seat portions respectively as well as between back and seat portions.

v'I'hese supplemental trame members or tie bars II, I1, and I8 are shown permanently secured in the frame, e. g., vas dowels near the back of the principal frame members. It isto be understood, however, that neither the method of securing nor the exact positioning are essential to my invention. In tact vmy invention may be satisfactorily embodied without securing these tie barsl at'all. Suche construction is shown. for example, in Figures 7 to A9, in which instead of a permanent tie bar and ties secured to the upholstery cover, the cover is made with a loop or open hem 20 and the tiebar 2| inserted therethrough, and engaged against the back of the principal frame members. This same construction could obviously be used with ties or other securing means as well as with the loop or open hem as shown.

In Figure 1, I have shown a stuied -chair with a cover already in position, as described above. The back of the cover, as sho .vn in this ligure, has not yet been secured in position but is drawn back to expose the ties and tie bar. When a cover oi.'

this type is to be put in place on the article, it isfirst fitted over the back and arms. Next the internal corners are pushed from the front of the article through between the seat and the back and arm portions respectively so as to bring the ties through to the opposite side. These ties are then tied over the tie bars and finally the opening-s along the back and bottom corners of the article are closed by the slide fasteners.

Although in connection with my invention I prefer to use the removable cover secured-by means of slide fasteners, e. g., as described in the Fisher patent, it is to be understood that the lnvention is also applicable to other types of removable covers and slip covers. I wish it to be understood furthermore that although I have shown in the accompanying drawings and described above, a preferred embodiment of'my invention and certain modiiications thereof, numerous other changes and modifications may l be made within the scope of my invention; and

it is my intention that all embodiments oi' my invention, whether or not such changes are ineluded, shall be within the scope of this application as dened in the accompanying claim.

What I claim is:

An upholstered article having separate xed adjacent cushion parts, a frame common to said separate cushions and fastened thereto but having separate stuiiing rails for each. spaced from one another, and an additional rigid rail secured between said stufng rails at the back of the frame, a removable cover on said article having a skin-tight fit thereon and 'having portions which cover said fixed separate cushions and extend into the space between them. the rigid rail being separably secured to the cover portions to hold them extended smoothly into said space.,r

between the cushions but substantially without stretching, and as to be accessible from the back of the chair frame, another portion of the cover extending over the back of the article and covering said rigid rail and means for holding said cover removably in said skin-tight relation on the article. 

